Adelanto Stadium

High Desert Yardbirds, Pecos League

8/10

The relatively nondescript entrance.

Warmups pre-game v. Rancho Cucamonga. The people next to the mound are dressed as Stormtroopers for Star Wars night.

A look back at the seating bowl about 40 minutes to game time.

I came into the High Desert after driving down from San Jose. This was a bit of a somber visit, as it appeared that rumours that had circulated about this team moving to the Carolinas, along with Bakersfield, were really picking up some momentum. Still, for the moment, it was just another new park in a week of new Cal League parks and I headed in. Parking here was either two or four dollars, can't remember, which was a nice change after paying 15 the previous evening in San Jose. This was a Saturday night fireworks home game against Rancho Cucamonga, which was only so far away on I-15, so maybe a hundred of their supporters made the trip. I arrived well before first pitch on what was also Star Wars night. The park's about 25 years old, but has aged relatively well from the fan's standpoint, save for the fact that the left field corner isn't visible from behind home plate, as the bullpen is pushed almost right onto the foul line by some sort of club section. The Texas Rangers, who were the parent club at the time, were reportedly concerned with the tendency here for desert winds to turn fly balls into home runs somewhat regularly. This game turned into a slugfest as well with the Quakes beating the home side 14-5.

The atmosphere was up to standard, but that was about it. Food was pretty decent, which is why this place gets an 8. I had some sort of burrito named after Mavericks manager and former major leaguer Howard Johnson, which consisted of eggs, hashbrowns and I think peppers. It was pretty unexpected to put it mildly.

But, after my visit here, the rumours picked up and soon became an announcement that the team's 2016 season in the Cal League would be its last. The situation in Adelanto had become untenable, as only a last second court injunction kept the Mavericks in their ballpark, as the local government had been attempting to have them removed, in a dispute over their lease. But after this, the proverbial writing was on the wall and with a second club in Bakersfield having long since exhausted it's options to stay in California, the Mavericks were off to the east coast.

I was in California in September 2016, when I noted that despite their off field turmoil, the Mavericks continued to win, making it all the way to the Cal League finals against a really good Visalia team. I tentatively planned to attend on a Sunday night, after a game in Anaheim, but the Mavericks finished it off on Saturday instead, playing their last game ever as league champions. Apparently, around 10 thousand dollars of damage was done to the stadium after this, according to the mayor, with the team denying it. A toxic end to a clearly toxic relationship.

That should be the end of the story, but it is not. When I went to check while writing this to see what summer league had settled here, I was stunned to find that the Pecos League, always eager to pick up other league's castoffs, had gone into not only both the High Desert and Bakersfield, but two other cities as well. The High Desert Yardbirds will play their first year here in 2017, with the stadium referred to as Adelanto Stadium. The majority of fans won't notice the difference and life will go on. It'll be interesting to see how long the new team lasts before they clash with city council.

Linescore
2016-05-07
                                                           123    456   789     R H E
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes(LAD)         051   000   161    14 17 0
High Desert Mavericks(TEX)                  000   202    001      5  7  2
Temp: 63F  Time: 3:10  Att: 2,233